


MUSIC SHORTS: POSTMODERN JUKEBOX’S LADY GAGA – BAD ROMANCE

by Kaksya



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Completed, Gen, I was going to insert a singing OW character, Open for Beta, PWP | Plot without Porn, and dancing Bastion, and mom!Mercy, but beware there's something dark in between the lines somewhere down further into the story, but nah maybe some other story, implied Junkrat, implied Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, iye lah tu, party time for Overwatch, plus a dance-off between two OW characters, sorry that Widowmaker and the Junkers didn't make it to this story yet, we have dad76
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 07:46:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8196515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaksya/pseuds/Kaksya
Summary: Overwatch’s first dinner party as a celebration of sorts, with the theme being, “Rustic Night”, and Soldier 76 found himself liking the party against all odds. Good food, good music, harmless fun, and much ensued. Maybe this could be the start of some good things for them all.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Another Overwatch Music Shorts story, a rather spur-of-the-moment idea that I managed to grab hold of, force down to sit onto the goddamn chair, and chase after till complete! This is based of Postmodern Jukebox's rendition of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, which is really beautiful to listen to and watch here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCTOpdlZJ8U). Hope you'll like it - it's really long for some reason when I freewrite this. I'm going to forthright in saying that this story is open for betas, if anyone is interested - I could use for some useful tips of improving in writing. All in all, read on and hope you'll enjoy!

               Needless to say, Lucio’s choice of music for tonight’s events was staggering, to say the least. Soldier 76 had expected he was going to play his usual harmonious mix of house remixes, but to hear the 40-50s’ style of pop music lambasting over the speakers…

               He was glad to have the mask on, his grin seemed to stretch so wide underneath it that he could feel the tightened pull of the scar running over his lips. This he could take the time to appreciate. Currently being seated at the table situated conveniently at the furthest point in the mess hall helped him ease more into the sudden urge to tap his foot ever so gently against the solid floor, which the young punks (an endearment term he loved to use when referring to D.va, Lucio, Tracer – and occasionally when he acted a little too much in line with them, Genji – collectively, they almost always stick together in and out of missions) had taken the trouble to overlay the brick-made floor with wooden-designed linoleum covers. Tonight’s party – over what, exactly, Soldier 76 had no idea about, but the allure of good food and drinks had been the reason why he came willingly enough when D.va dragged him into it – had taken a rustic theme, and the whole mess hall was decorated with adequately-dimmed yellow lights generously decorated with small electric lights which produced soft white and yellow hues in sequential light-up patterns, and glass bottles probably put up to put a nice reflection purpose throughout the ceiling (whose idea was it, Soldier 76 had first grumbled when he entered the hall earlier, bloody things could come falling down over people’s heads). Whereas most of the people in the party were bedecked splendidly in outfits to match the night’s theme – Genji himself showed up properly in a brown hakama, which put Soldier 76 a little to shame; he only wore a light brown leather jacket over his usual Overwatch sweater and jeans, just so.

               But either way, so far the night was progressing enjoyably, even to Soldier 76’s liking. The food, much to his surprise, was excellent: devilled eggs upon which the first batch containing 100 servings of them had all but gone finished hours ago, and prompted a second and even a third batch to be continuously sent up. Roasted chicken with melted cheese inside that, after a generous drowning of them with gravy had all but gone into him, had caused Soldier 76 to seek reprieve to a hidden corner in the room and undo his belt a little. Tureens of healthy minestrone soup that was continuously being handed to him time and again into his bowl. The desserts were not at all bad, but Soldier 76 felt as if he was fit to bursting by now, and decided he’d take his time to cool it all down first, until he could find some space inside his belly just so he could go after them later, close towards the end of the party. Right now, it’s in full swing, and he intended to sit back and watch as the others enjoyed themselves immensely.

               Lucio was his usual self up there on the makeshift stage the punks had set up days before, in his groove as he played the music and preparing which discs and songs would go up next. D.va, looking spectacular as her usual happy self, alternated between dancing with Lucio up on the stage, and hopping down from the stage to dance on the dancing area right in front of it, happily joining up the dance with whoever it was on the dance floor. So far, Soldier 76 spotted her having danced eagerly with Tracer, Genji, Mei, and Reinhardt, of whom the last one had been entertaining to see, as Lucio had purposefully played a somewhat softer, mellow track when the old German veteran and D.va got together, prompting them to laugh and yet enjoy dancing to the music between themselves, earning much cheer and wolf-whistling from the others. When the song ended, D.va capped it nicely by beckoning the old German closer to her, and gave a gentle kiss on the older man’s cheek, again prompting much applause from the floor, but what got Soldier 76 laughing was seeing the sheepish, reddening face of her dance partner, whom Soldier 76 knew had a soft spot for her.

               He decided that it was not bad to come out here, after all.

               “Hey, Soldier!” came a voice, greeting him warmly in a light Chinese accent. He turned his gaze, and saw that Mei had just come over to sit down next to him, but not before she gestured towards the empty seat, and he gave a light nod. “Hope you have fun too?”

               “As much as I could get used to,” Soldier 76 replied gruffly. “But so far, not bad. You all did a good job.”

               “Thanks!” Mei beamed. “It was the younger ones’ ideas, mostly – we don’t have a proper sit-down together since Overwatch first started up, and what with having just brought down Talon agencies in Asia, they thought this would be a good time to take a small celebration for us, whilst regrouping and getting ready for the next missions. They want it so much that they took the trouble of properly organizing it all. It’s nice of them, isn’t it?”

               “Yeah, it is,” Soldier 76 agreed. “Let’s take this time to enjoy the calm before the next storm hits.”

               Mei made a light, nervous chuckle on hearing him, which made Soldier 76 caught onto what he had just let slipped at the last second, but shrugged it off; he’s been more morbid over the years, realizing and learning that nothing good ever stays permanently. It’s easier to handle when he knew it so, that each and every time a good thing presents itself, he’d take the time to enjoy it in the best way he could, knowing it’s better to meet it halfway instead of getting all worked up for it and lamenting about its loss much later.

               “Well, glad to hear it,” Mei said. “Say, don’t you want to join us in dancing? Almost everybody had at least a turn on the dance floor, except you. And Zarya, but she’s coming up next, she’s requested a special song and Lucio’s going to play it up after two more songs.”

               “No, I’ll just give you young punks nightmares for months over some ugly moves done on the dance floor,” Soldier 76 snorted. “I don’t want to dance, if you kids wanna, go ahead. No problem.”

               “At least just for a short while?” Mei coaxed. “A few seconds of random bopping won’t hurt, won’t be long enough to ‘cause nightmares’-“

               “Oh, it’s long enough, trust me,” Soldier 76 chuckled. He then patted Mei on the shoulder, “Nope, don’t want to, get going punk before I change my mind and decide to go out there and do a very ugly rendition of ejaculating cha-cha all over the place, now scram.” Apparently that had been enough, Mei made a comical face as she laughed, but obeyed him well enough to get up and tap him lightly on his gloved hand, and left him to resume his sitting in silence.

               Sure enough, Mei’s promise that Zarya was going to dance next did happen, and he found himself laughing in enjoyment as he saw that it was mostly Zarya doing the dance to a very fast-paced beat-boxing to the original tune, which Lucio had earlier announced over the speakers as Boney M's "Rasputin". What made it most memorable was that after a few bars of the music having been played and Zarya repeating all through her motions, _Bastion_ saw fit to join the dance next, and repeated her dance movements with exact precision, albeit with the masterful robotic moves his whole body would enable him to. The whole party held their breath in silence, knowing full well regarding Zarya’s stance on Omnics, even though she held a cold politeness towards the Omnics in their party, namely Zenyatta, Bastion, and even Genji, who’s only half-and-half. But when after the second piece of the music and dance movements was over, Zarya looked Bastion squarely in the eyes, and broke out into a huge grin.

               “You dance well, my machine friend, but can you dance as well as me?” Zarya taunted with a  wide, friendly grin. Bastion made excited booping and beeping noises as his head bobbed up and down eagerly.

               “Bastion says, ‘Oh you’re on!’” Genji shouted from the nearest table to the stage.

               “Come on, then, and let’s dance!”

               “Ohh, this party now is getting started!” Lucio announced in a terrifically-gleeful snicker, and played the music over the speaker, by now much louder and quicker.

                What followed next was the two of them having a dance battle of sorts, with Lucio slowly increasing the tempo and beat of the music played as both Zarya and Bastion took it in turns to dance according to the music.

                It was spectacular, although Soldier 76 was beginning to feel concerned at which the speed of the music starts to take pace, and the fast-flurried motions of the competing dancers were taking in time with the music, each making sure not to lose to the other. Zarya, having the upper edge of perhaps knowing this music and dance like the back of her hand, was able to follow through her movements in time with the music with ease, while Bastion seemed to sometimes forget which movement followed next, although in spite of the small stutters in his dancing, he was able to immediately pick up which movement came next with the music beat, and was able to resume well from there.

               “Oh, here’s comes the last one,” Zarya announced, when the music came towards a bridging part. “You ready, machine? Let’s do this one together, and see who comes out truly victorious, what do you say?” Bastion took a small while to answer, then let out excited chirruped noises, his head bobbing excitedly up and down again.

               “Bastion says, ‘Let’s go and finish in style!’” Genji translated again.

               “I marvel at how the hell can you tell what the hell the robot’s saying,” Soldier 76 muttered under his breath, although his smile didn’t let up. “Everything it says sounds the same to me.”

               And so began the last bout of the dance-off. The music played, and at everyone’s shock, it’s on a VERY fast tempo and pace, Lucio overlooking the hall with a maniacal glee that had Soldier 76 remembering Junkrat unexpectedly. But what shocked the audience even more was that the dancers now grabbing the limelight on the dance floor _both_ danced in time with the music, never letting up even once, each limb movement in sync with both music _and_ with each other’s.

               Then came the grand finale.

               When the last part of the music beat played, both did the finishing dance moves in a grand, splendid, and most winning style they were both able to – Zarya striking her usual strong “gunning” pose, whereas Bastion –

               –  Actually did Junkrat’s side-lying pose on the ground, right next to Zarya’s standing point, in such a winning and endearing style that had the audience all standing and whooping in their applause, as the music ended in a fast-beat finish.

               The deafening sounds of clap and thundering cheers would be one hell of a way for Talon agents in hiding to pinpoint their exact location, if there ever was any out there; everyone was too jubilant and exhilarated by the whole dance routine from Zarya and Bastion. Soldier 76 was one of them who actually stood up and left his seat to get closer towards the dance floor, eager to congratulate and join in, although some part of him still hold him that he only joined the crowd at the further back, which was right behind Reinhardt.

               “Okay, okay, that was fan-tastic, from start to finish!” Lucio announced over the speakers. “But! But we did say, that this is gonna be one dance-off, right folks?” When everyone roared their approval, Lucio nodded emphatically. “Both are good, both are good, aren’t they? But the winner, ladies and gentlemen, can only be ONE.” All of them let out groans. “I know, it’s hard, but there can only be one! So this is how we’re gonna do it, I’m gonna hover this – “ Lucio whipped out his gun – in any other time, Soldier 76 would growl as he would whip out his makeshift easy-to-carry gun somewhere _right_ inside his jacket pocket, all the while barking for the Overwatch agent to stand down for pulling out a gun in sight of non-offending civilians, but he’d learnt how Lucio’s gun works by now, and its green-pulsating lights were set to Heal, not at all destructive.

               Lucio then clicked his gun and aimed it towards the ceiling, where a halo-like green light in waveform patterns pulsated over Zarya’s and Bastion’s heads.

               “I’m gonna hover one over one of our dance contesters, and you judge. Loudest applause of approval decides the winner!” Everyone clapped at this decision, although Soldier 76’s wasn’t as eager as before. Both were good, in his eyes.

               “Is it a call of ‘Aye’ or ‘Nay’, lad?” Torbjorn called out.

               “No, Torbjorn, you decide how loud you want to scream in approval over the winner,” Pharah corrected him gently. She was resplendent in her evening black dress with small sequins, reminding Soldier 76 of midnight themes, and so was Ana’s dress, a long overall that was smooth and beautiful to look at. Ana noticed Soldier 76 eyeing them from behind the visor – how she was able to discern that he was doing it was long out of the question, he had decided long ago – and winked, smiling as she did so.

               “Ah, I am afraid that is going to be one difficult choice to make,” Zenyatta sighed. Even the monk took the time to dress accordingly to the party’s theme, a well-draped cloth of soft brown and honey hues that was impressive in Soldier 76’s eyes.

               “Remember, Zen, you need to shout your approval, otherwise the votes gonna fall short for the winner’s count!” McCree, well-clad in his dark-brown suit but never without his rich red cape and signature cowboy hat and belt, reminded him, and Zenyatta chuckled.

               “Do not worry, I will do my best,” Zenyatta replied, and everyone joined in his laughter, tickled a little by the fact that all this time, the Omnic monk had been one most known for being utterly soft-spoken, never a voice lifted in reprimand or anger was ever heard from him. How would he make the vote of approval was something they were all eager to see.

               “Okay, now, let’s start!” Lucio announced. “I’m well out of the voting for obvious reasons, can’t be biased, sorry guys!” He addressed this apologetically towards Zarya and Bastion, who both nodded understandably. “But let me tell you this, first hand, that was the best dance-off I’ve ever seen in my musical career!”

               “Thanks, Lucio,” Zarya said warmly, whereas Bastion actually made a slightly longer reply, with his beep-booping noises.

               “Couldn’t catch that, Bastion, what’s he saying, G-dawg?” Lucio asked with a wide smile, but a small hint of confusion noted behind the green goggles.

               “He says, ‘And you’re the best music person he’s ever met, but so far you’re the second one he’s ever known’,” Genji translated, and the whole audience laughed.

               “I’d love to hear some more, Bastion, especially about the first one, but promise ya that’s gonna be for another day,” Lucio said, resuming his warm conduct. “Now, though, it’s the time to decide the winner! So – Ladies and Gentlemen!” His clicked his gun upwards, and the green-halo formed itself, hovering on the air above Zarya’s head.

               Everybody roared their approval hoarse.

               “OOOOhhh so much lovin’ we’re getting here!” Lucio cooed. “But now – Ladies and Gentlemen!” Another click as he aimed his gun, and the green halo formed itself over Bastion’s head –

               It seemed as if the whole mess hall would fall apart itself, from the sudden burst of shouts coming as if from all around the walls making up the hall. Winston actually stomped his foot in approval, which caused the walls to shake some – Soldier 76 had quickly whipped his head to look up into the air sharply, always mindful of the hovering glass bottles that looked precariously as if they could fall at any second, but to his ease of mind, they bristled in their places being hung up by the threads but otherwise stayed true to where they were supposed to be.

               But it was Zenyatta’s response that made the most count – he actually used his Ultimate to form a huge golden halo encompassing the whole room, adding a further illumination to the hall with a bright golden glow, and it lasted throughout the duration of the whole applause that the audience was affording Bastion. Soldier 76 thought Bastion looked gleeful with the support he was getting, his head bobbing up and down very eagerly. Even Zarya smiled softly towards the whole scenery, and by extension, towards the Omnic, which took Soldier 76 by surprise. Tonight had no shortage of wonders.

               “Eyy, Zen I did say you have to shout!” McCree chided playfully. “How does that even count?”

               “I did, and not a word did I say, because silence is the loudest scream,” Zenyatta preened, and somewhere in the distance, over the deafening roars of laughter and approval, Soldier 76 could still make out the sound of Genji groaning.

               “Okay, okay, my Zen friend, you got me,” Lucio laughed. “But really and truly, is everybody okay with this? Because I’m gonna announce it – winner is… BASTION!!!” Everybody then broke out in jubilant screams of approval and agreement. As Winston made to stomp his leg again, clapping vigorously as he barked his laughter in enjoyment, Soldier 76 went up to him and stopped him as he placed a hand on his arm, whispering, “Uh, y’know, I think just by this, this is fine.” He gestured towards Winston as a whole, and the latter nodded in agreement, putting his leg down gingerly, and looking a little sheepish. Soldier 76 nodded his approval, and resumed his clapping, his attention turned back towards the front.

               Even Zarya was jubilant over the whole ordeal, and as she congratulated Bastion by a firm shake of the hand, Bastion made jubilant whirring sounds, and then beckoned a hand for Zarya to come closer towards it, which she obliged – and it gently brought its face close to touch Zarya’s cheek briefly, humming as it did so. Everyone whooped and whistled, as Zarya pulled back sharply, touching the spot on which the Omnic made its robotic kiss, then smiled as she did the same and kissed it gently on its head, which had the Omnic actually walking backwards, reeling as it made more of its adorable, jubilant sounds.

               Soldier 76 laughed heartily. Well, here’s to hoping for seeing a small step of change between them.

               The party then resumed itself in a slightly gentler, slower pace, as the night progressed, after the fast pace from the dance off had slowly dwindled. Soldier 76 returned back to his seat in the far-corner table, and this time joining him were much unexpected company: Symmetra and Hanzo. Both looked a little firm for the wear, although Symmetra was wearing a beautiful sari of earthen-tones to match, whereas Hanzo was in his non-formal hakama wear, fully clad in a shade of bottle green.

               “Hey there,” Soldier 76 greeted them both. He had picked up a plate of desserts – red velvet cupcakes and curry puffs and moist brownies by numbers – and a glass of soft drink, and placed them so that they were situated between the three of them. “Join me finish this?” he asked. Symmetra shook her head politely with a small gesture of her hand, whereas Hanzo nodded gratefully, and picked up some morsels, looking clearly hungry.

               “Just got off from practice?” he asked them both.

               “I have,” Hanzo replied. “Then I had gone up to see what the commotion was all about, whereas Ms. Vaswani here I met up by accident on the way up. She told me that dinner tonight was served in this party event, and at her invitation, I come to here, although we were both late comers; I had to get myself cleaned up first.”

               “Not at all too late,” Symmetra spoke up. “We were just in time to see the last dance routine from Zarya and Bastion. It was most impressive, I didn’t know the Omnic can dance so well.”

               “So’s everyone,” Soldier 76 said. “That was a total first, from Bastion, that is.”

               “It is,” Symmetra marvelled. “Well, I feel I shall go and take up some food, if you’ll excuse me.” She got up, and left, a small waft of perfume lingering in the air behind her as she passed by them. “Now there’s a latecomer,” she murmured as she left, and Soldier 76 turned to see to whom was she referring to.

               At the doorway, opening the doors by a gentle squeak and closing it behind her surreptitiously as if not wanting to cause a huge noise, was Mercy.

               He knew from Winston’s briefing her weeks prior and earlier in the day that the doctor had a patient whom she was eager to do her follow-up routine with, as the patient’s family had sent an email months prior informing her about the patient’s current status, and how they were eager to see Dr. Ziegler again. Mercy, on her part, was much appreciative and eager to see the patient again, an orphaned refugee child who survived her biological parents from an Omnic crisis, whose chances of living had been left slim as the barely-day alive infant was born with a severe cleft lip and palate, poor upper respiratory functioning complicated with mild tracheomalacia, and HIE. Dr. Ziegler worked day and night to ensure the baby lives, and with all the medical technology and support she could offer at the time, was able to ensure the baby’s livelihood extended, albeit in stages, as earlier on, they depended on BiPAP 24-hourly with a generous amount of chest physiotherapy and suctioning required, since their facial features complicated their food and nutrition intake, and it took her two years to get the baby to reach a stage where its chances to survive the follow-up surgeries to their face and trachea would be higher. By this time, the medical technology she’d learnt from the Omnics had been advanced, and long story short, five years later, this child had grown to be a healthy school-attending, sports-playing girl who loves robots in view of her cool half-omnic parts as seen by her school peers, and was now able to downgrade to CPAP usage at night time. Her upper respiratory functioning was well enough to support her getting off from suctioning, although daily chest physiotherapy with Acapella and/or cough assist machine is still required. All these years, the child’ follow up had been forwarded by her fellow medical officers who still retained their medical careers in the hospital, but the child was nearing her twelfth birthday – coincidentally on this night – and the whole family, plus the child herself, wanted to see Dr. Ziegler again, who had been just as eager to comply.

               It seemed that Mercy had just gotten off from having attended the birthday celebrations, her white dress a little crumpled for the wear, her creamy skin peppered with some light colour dust and glitter, while her hair seemed a little unkempt for the wear. But neither did all this negate her from her beauty, as her face flushed a radiating smile, looking across the room in wonder and delight. On her left hand, there seemed to be crude flowers drawn in a stark brownish-red streaks of patterns, but the way she caressed the back of her left hand which had the same adorning pattern over it suggested that she was most fond of them all.

               “Perhaps you would like to greet her?” Hanzo said gently, breaking into Soldier 76’s reverie.

               “Perhaps I should,” he murmured, eyes not taking off from her, as he got up, gingerly wiped his lips and finger using his napkin, and as he placed the napkin back onto the table, snapped his mask back onto the lower part of his face, and walked away towards the gentle doctor, who had by this time crossed the mess hall and was met up eagerly with her adoring friends – almost all of them the young punks, especially D.va and Genji.

               “Ladies and gentlemen, our VVIP of the night has arrived – we present to you, Dr. Angela Ziegler!” Lucio announced, albeit taking care to lower the volume first, over the speakers, to which Dr. Ziegler laughed as she flipped her hand.

               “Mercy! Where have you been! We’ve been looking out for you – you missed the best part!” D.va greeted her, hugging her tightly and bouncing about excitedly as she stepped back. “There was dance off competition between Zarya and Bastion right on the dance floor just now, and Bastion won! And then they kissed – you should have seen the looks on their faces!”

               “Goodness, that sounds like a lot of good things has happened whilst I’m away,” Mercy laughed kindly, looking most apologetic towards the beaming faces. “Genji, I hope you didn’t –“

               “Yes, Angela, food no more than three adult-sized dinner servings, I remember,” Genji repeated, the lights of his visor flickering once, a show of him rolling his eyes. Mercy chuckled as she made a light tap against his hand, which had been holding hers gently. His thumb caressed over the back of her left one, which was adorned by the unusual yet lovely patterns, and he asked. “Had the birthday party been good?”

               “The best,” Mercy beamed. “But not as good as yours here, I’m sure. Still, I enjoyed myself immensely.” She sighed in contentment, then showed them her left arm. “These are henna designs made by my patient. They’re lovely – I adore them a lot. I told myself that I’m never going to get a tattoo, but this time I make an exception, since they asked nicely. Plus, they’re impermanent, so why not?”

               “They sure are, love!” Tracer bubbled. “So, was it mostly a make-up party?”

               “Not at all! One part of it was the make-up party, just me and the girls. The rest was some eating, some dancing – though I had to decline on that one, I’m a terrible dancer, I keep grinding into people’s toes rather painfully. And a bit of fun with games, child-friendly ones, for sure! It was splendid!” Mercy then sighed fondly, and looked about the room, then caught sight of Soldier 76, who had stood near enough to hear them. “Oh, hi! Glad to see you here!”

               “Same to you too, doc,” Soldier 76 said as he cocked his head to the side. “Uh, guess everything went well?”

               “It does,” Mercy smiled. She then turned towards the young agents, “Guys, may I take this time to talk for a little while with Soldier 76 here? I promise I’ll rejoin you shortly.”

               “Don’t take too long, we’re close to ending the party, it’s a little past midnight and we need to start cleaning up soon after the last guest’s gone home,” Genji reminded, his hand letting go of Mercy’s slowly.

               “Aw, really? Can’t it wait till tomorrow?” D.va grumbled, as the two older Overwatch agents walked away from the congregation of young punks.

               “If you want to do all the taking-off-the-decoration-works all by yourself, sure,” Genji guffawed, which earned him a light punch from D.va.

               “So now…” Soldier 76 began, as he took a glass of cordial and handed it to Mercy, who seemed startled but took it all the same from him, murmuring her thanks. “How did it go?”

               “A little strained,” Mercy delved straight away, without preamble, as they took a seat at the nearest table they could find. “They were really hoping that there was something – anything – that can be done towards Meena, but…”

               “It’s too late,” Soldier 76 finished for her.

               “It’s gone past Stage III,” Mercy breathed, as if not trusting her voice. “The stenosed valves have degenerated so much that any attempt to fix or repair them would worsen the stenosis and bloodflow in the other chambers. Worse, the idiopathic capillary stenosis on her lower limbs were still unexplainable, even to the best of my knowledge I can’t begin to guess or properly identify or differentiate what would have been its contributing etiology…”

               “I’m no medical man, doc, but let me guess… even a direct surgical intervention is fatal at this point?” Soldier 76 said gently, as he held her fidgeting hand in his own.

               “Perhaps if I could buy some more time, I could properly research and study what were her causes, and what can be done to at least alleviate the cause of symptoms, if not find a proper full-body cure,” Mercy rushed breathlessly. But then she hung her head low. “But that is the thing… time is not what we have.”

               Soldier 76 inhaled shakily. He knew how hard it must be for Mercy – she’d shown him the full medical notes she had on Ms. Meena Sumari, supposed to be fully confidential but for the sake of fully convincing him that enabling her to join Meena’s birthday party would pose more benefit than risk to Mercy’s own safety, and he recalled how different was the baby whom the world had found initially bereft of any hope to live, to the seven-year-old he’d seen in the photo, looking very much filled with hope and life. “How much time is there left?”

               Mercy didn’t look into his eyes. “Weeks… if God is merciful.”

               Soldier 76 sighed, his hand gripping a little more firmly on her hand. “I’m… sorry, Angela.”

               “It’s okay…” she said, blinking back her tears, as she slowly looked up. “I’m just… so happy to be able to share this day with her, with them all. Back when I first found her, this day had never been a possibility to everyone, myself included. I was so scared… that I’d fail.”

               Soldier 76 understood where that fear of failure in her treatment of her patients, converging on the borderline of paranoia, had first originated from. Her years as a medical houseman and officer had shared her experiences with patients’ deaths on her shift and during her care, but only one case in particular stood out… because in spite of her successful cases greatly outnumbering her spots of failure, the one failure that called out the most to her dark dreams and nightmares even in waking, spoke more volumes to her than anything else. Of how she could never afford a wrong her in treatment…

               … because when it did happen, it accosted her too much of everything that was hers. It took away from her the one man whom she loved with all her heart and soul in the past, away from her reach, forever. It resulted in the walking husk of a man she used to love, who now played the part of an avenging monster, who swore that one day, it – _he_ – would come back to claim his promise.

               A promise to make her pay. A promise to kill.

               “Hey, come here,” Soldier 76 pulled out of his reverie, enough to see that she, too, had taken a step back into her mind, away from the present scenario and detached completely from the world, and noted the slowly intensifying quakes of shivering that was running through her. He made bold to pull her into a close hug, gently soothing her as he rubbed her back, noticing that it took a while for her shivering to subside. “Easy… it’s alright, you’re safe here.”

               “I… hope so,” came a cracked, breathless whisper, and it half-frightened Soldier 76 when he noticed how hard her heart was hammering in her chest as he held her against him, and how ragged her breathing was. He pulled back slowly in a frown, and saw that her face was turning a bit pale, a small sheen of sweat peppering her golden locks to her forehead.

               “Angela, are you… alright?”

               “I’m fine, it’s just that… I’m fine.”

               “No you’re not… you’re scared, that’s what I’m seeing here. Do you need anything?”

               “No… it’s just…” she looked around her restlessly, as if grasping for something tangible that she could see, and Soldier 76 was confused. He wondered if he could go about this Sherlock Holmes-style, but his deduction skills was patchy at best; it was Reyes who had that grand gift of being able to suss out things from mere observation only.

               “I… remember the last time I was in a place like this,” Mercy whispered. “It was so long ago that I had cleanly forgotten it until just now… it’s like I’m being transported back in time, and I was that same girl I was once before.”

               Soldier 76 sensed where this was going. He was on tenterhooks; he didn’t know if he had what it takes to be able to do it: help her go through this, but he was willing enough to try. He hoped he could navigate these waters carefully.

               He took both her hands into his own, and offered them what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze. “Was this way back then, when you first started in Overwatch?”

               “Yes,” Mercy whispered. “I’m sorry,” she suddenly said, realizing what she was putting herself into. “I shouldn’t have brought that up –“

               “Maybe, or maybe not,” Soldier 76 whispered back. “But listen, it’s started already, somewhere in your mind, and I’m worried that it’ll get itself worked up to a level where it’s gonna be like last time.” They both knew what he was referring to; there was a meltdown that occurred once, some night one year ago, where it culminated into a trigger which had been seemingly harmless at first, but ended up with her screaming in pain and primal fear in the middle of the night, frightening the patient in the medical bay at that time, Winston. To this day, both Winston and Soldier 76 worked hard to help her go through with her nightmare, a deep psychosomatic pain that she couldn’t deal well on her own. “I can only hope that by doing this, talking it out, sussing out what’s it all about, we can nip it early in the bud before it gets any worse.”

               Mercy smiled as she let out a mirthless chuckle that sounded more like a hopeless hack of a snort. “You’re too kind, Soldier.”

               “You’re the one who’s done too many good things for us, doc, and not getting nearly enough of it in return,” Soldier 76 said firmly. “What do you say? I can only progress if you want to, but I still think it’s worth a shot if we try let you talk it out and see what’s getting you worked up. You say you’re okay, and I believe you. But your body is saying otherwise, you get what I’m saying?”

               Mercy nodded. “I’ll… try.”

               Soldier 76 nodded. “Good… now… you said you’ve been in a place like this before?”

               “Once.”

               “Once, and you remember it well enough, even after some years had come and gone since you last recalled this memory. What’s about the place that makes it familiar to you?”

               Mercy looked around. “It’s the… whole setting of it. The feel of this place. It’s familiar… because I’ve been to a party like this before. It’s… Dr. Faulkner’s daughter was going away to college, I remembered, and he hosted a farewell party for his daughter. He invited everyone in the Overwatch medical team at the time, but for some reason, I was missed out on the invites. This was because back then, I was more known as a research student.”

               Soldier 76 nodded. “So far, so good – but if you’re missed out from the invites, then how come you got to party all the same?”

               Mercy tensed some. Soldier 76 knew why.

               “Angela,” he whispered softly. “I’m here, it’s okay… just tell me whichever best way you could do, alright? Did you get to the party from someone else’s invite?” Mercy nodded. “Good. You’re a plus-one, that’s good. You really were there, then? Whose invite was it?”

               Mercy opened her mouth, but no words came out. She closed it again, seemingly deflated, after the small burst of encouragement had left her. He tried again.

               “It was a person’s invite, that’s good enough. Let’s see here… so there’s this party, and you walked in with him –“ He heard the sharp, shaken intake of breath from Mercy; this was going to be harder than he thought.

               “You arrived with him, and then… did he introduced you around?” When Mercy paused, he prompted her a little more. “Or did you do the rounds yourself and introduce yourself?”

               “He introduced me,” Mercy began, a look of remembrance shown in her features, and with it, a small sense of relief. Soldier 76 didn’t understand why was he feeling a little annoyed by this reveal all of a sudden, but kept them beaten down as they went on. “He showed me around to the staff, but some corrected him when he told them I was a doctor, they said to him that I was only a research student attached from a project between Overwatch and a local university. He seemed put off not by what they said, but… in how they said it. He told me later that he hated how they sounded submissive and not caring about my position, but I convinced him that it’s fine, and that later I’ll be able to prove it to them that I can do what they do.”

               “You did,” Soldier 76 said. “Now we’re gonna go back again… Angela, who was he?”

               Mercy looked visibly shaken by the swiftness in which he put the question to, but Soldier 76 that if he tried to lead up to this question otherwise, it’s going to be a chance of 50-50 in being able to work itself.

               “It’s G-Gabi…” she began, then faltered, her face fell the moment the nickname left her lips. “I’m sorry. I just… can’t…”

               “It’s a start,” Soldier 76 said firmly, his hands squeezing hers lightly yet firmly. “It’s a good enough start. You start small, then you can move up to the big ones.”

               “I’m sorry – “

               “No, don’t be,” Soldier 76 growled. Mercy seemed slightly taken aback, but it wasn’t her that Soldier 76 was angry towards, it was _him_. “I want you to understand, no matter what happens, you got us to fall back to, okay? We’re gonna be there for you, no matter what goes on.”

               Soldier 76 knew that for some years, Mercy had been terrified to death of Reaper, especially as she was intimately related to the man when he was first and most widely known as Gabriel Reyes, but even more so from her catastrophic attempts to rescue him after his fall at Swiss HQ, some 20-odd years ago. That fact in itself gave her much to grieve over for the past few years, her intense guilt and shame for the things she had done, but it wasn’t until the start of the Second Omnic Crisis that saw how her nightmares and deepest fears regarding Reaper had intensified painfully; her missions in Overwatch had seen sporadic instances in which she would come across the Reaper, and his close brush to killing her had led her to a point in which she could not even speak his name, from the crushing immense weight of emotions that beguiled her all throughout – love, loss, pain, grief, fear, death, anger, self-loathing, hatred. Hatred for what she did, hatred for what she had let become from her own selfishness.

               Hatred for the failed things she had done.

               And so it was here that she was at a point in time where a mere memory of Reyes, and a short mention of either his old name or his new call sign, would cause a cascade of swirling emotions and fear responses so terrifying even for her own person. But Soldier 76 promised that she would go through all these no more, and he hoped that he and Winston could help her go through this fear, one day at a time.

               “Come here,” he whispered, and Mercy went back to hugging him, this time actually clinging onto him tightly, as if he were a lifeline. He wished he could be.

               “Soldier… thank you,” Mercy whispered haggardly, her hands clutching his jacket in barely-checked desperation, her head buried deep in his shoulder. He held her close and just as firmly, reassuring her from his light strokes and touches that for as long as he needed to be, he would be here, for her.

               As the hall started to clear out of people, leaving behind the young punks to start folding up chairs and moving aside tables, Soldier 76 gently guided Mercy up, and as he held her gently in one hand as they walked past the dance floor, still kept alight, Lucio suddenly spoke up gently using his microphone from a much-watered-down volume, “Yo, Soldier, Gangsta’s Paradise or Bad Romance?”

               The two older agents stopped in their tracks. “What’s that, Lucio?” Soldier 76 asked.

               “Last song of the night I’mma be playin’, and you get to choose, Gangsta’s Paradise or Bad Romance?” Lucio held up both hands. “Just something nice and slow, to soothe some nerves up, y’know?”

               Soldier 76 looked at Mercy, who seemed as puzzled, but her soft smile slowly crept back into her face, and he felt a little at ease. “Okay, then,” Soldier 76 paused. “I dunno, kid, Bad Romance?”

               “Got it!” Lucio then began playing the music, but it was a much different intro that greeted Soldier 76’s ears – a soft whistling. “They did a post-modern remake of this music, so, y’know, it’s good for a nice and even slow-dancing.”

               Oh, no, that brat did not just –

               Lucio grinned as he held up both his hands, as if caught – Soldier 76 may had his mask on, but there was no mistaking the furrowing brows. “Last dance of the night, too?”

               “You gotta be kidding me, kid, does it look like I can dance?” Soldier 76 growled. Mercy’s arm gently pressing into his prompted him to look at her, and when he did, he saw it, a small glimmer of hope in her eyes, a small look of askance.

               Oh, boy…

               “Geez… Angela, before anything else, I apologize in advance, I suck at dancing, and that’s putting it mildly,” Soldier 76 grumbled, as he took his position without hesitancy, and one hand held Mercy’s while the other held her gently at her lower back. He gulped slightly, and saw that Mercy’s own eyes darted a little to look at him for a short while then on the side of him, clearly embarrassed, but the small flush on her face and the sparkling gaze in her eyes mesmerized him a little, and he concurred that he could at least, for this one night, do the impossible task of dancing. With her.

               The song had an upbeat tempo, but Soldier 76 only did little of twirling her around and spinning her in his hand, which she did shyly at first, but then as the adrenaline took over a little, started to become a little more emboldened, and danced in a small delight and wonder. This in turn had a wonderful effect on him, and he was getting a little more relaxed himself.

               Towards the ending of the song, he then held her close, and dipped her down low. Mercy poised gracefully as he did so, her arms encircled around his neck and upper shoulders in a way that she can, as one leg carefully bent against his back, barely touching his upper gluts. He was a little more into this than he initially thought, Soldier 76 groaned inwardly, as he fixed his gaze into the woman’s own clear eyes below him, and for that only, he didn’t mind the groaning creak from his back.

               The remaining young agents who stayed to help clean up after whooped in glee – Genji’s, Soldier 76 noted, seemed more on borderlining polite, as he clapped when the song had finished and Soldier 76 and Mercy stood up to straighten themselves up neatly. The agents mostly congregated around the doctor – “And you told us you can’t dance!” D.va teased – whereas Soldier 76 took the time to slowly step back, and look at the whole scene before him.

               “Thanks for… helping her out,” Genji murmured as he passed by him.

               “No problem, kid,” Soldier 76 replied back, as he watched Genji joining his peers in talking enthusiastically to the doctor. She had a way of being well liked by the punks, he noted, and was happy to see that. He then resumed looking at the whole scenario around him, as if he wanted to commit it all to memory – the small comfort of relaxation that this night could offer him, to them all, that there was always going to be good days to come, no matter how small. He hoped there would be more instances in which he’d see another good, well-enjoyable night like this one.

               “Soldier,” a timid voice asked, and he looked at who it was. Tracer. She was holding up a camera gingerly, and asked, “Can we get at least this photo of you being part of tonight’s party, too? We’ve a lot of the other shots, but you’re missing out in all of them.”

               _Deliberately_ , he thought inwardly. But when he saw the young punks starting to tug on Mercy’s hands to pull her over towards the front of the stage where they wanted the photo of them all to be taken, he gave a curt nod towards the young Brit, who actually jumped up and down in joy.

               “Yes! He said yes, guys! Quick, come over here and form up! Make sure everyone gets into the frame!” She then held him gently by the hand and guided him towards where they were, with Soldier 76 and Mercy right in the middle, while the others congregate around them in various freestyle poses.

               “Wait wait wait, make this a double shot – “

               “You said just one, kid,” Soldier 76 grumbled.

               “Yeah, one is a somewhat formal pose, and the other’s a freestyle one!”

               “Sure thing!” Mercy beamed, and Soldier 76 had no other choice but to comply.

               “Alright, loves, say cheese!” Tracer hit the snap button and in a flash of blue appeared in and out of the photo group, saving the picture in the DSLR and showing it to them all before proceeding with the second picture. The first one was fine, with them all standing tall and looking proper.

               The second picture looked more lively, to say the least – Genji and Lucio both made peace signs, while D.va and Tracer struck dramatic poses, with D.va standing up and Tracer side lying on the ground. But what Soldier 76 loved about the second picture was that in her freestyle take, Mercy leaned closer towards him and made her hands shaped into a heart-like shape. He kind of admit that he liked this one the best.

               “Oh, Soldier, it’s called freestyle for a reason,” D.va laughed. Soldier 76 only hmmphed! in reply. “I’ll send a copy once the photos are all processed, okay?” D.va whispered, as Mercy bade them all goodnight, and D.va gave a light squeeze and a hug as she gestured towards Mercy’s retreating frame. Soldier 76 needn’t no telling twice, but what the punks are giggling about as he left the hall, he didn’t want to know. He’s just going to see Mercy to her room, and then retreat to his own. That was it. Anything else will take place in its own time later, there’s no rushing it. Sometimes the kids knew a little too much, he grumbled.

               The night came to good finish, all the same, in his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Siap dah, hope you enjoyed it! For the most part, most songs that are mentioned being played by Lucio was inspired from Postmodern Jukebox's remixes, if you haven't checked them out in their YouTube, I strongly recommend; they're all really awesome and refreshing to hear! Cheers and hope to see you in another story, and here's to a good day to all of you.
> 
> Some of you might have noticed that there's actually a couple of songs being mentioned here, so why am I attributing this based on one? Simple - because the PMJ's Bad Romance was the song that kickstarted the whole idea. The other songs do inspire as well, but PMJ's Bad Romance gave the whole idea and overall form for me to write based on what upon exactly (now I make no sense, I'm so sorry people). 
> 
> By the way, the Rasputin dance-off was based on this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRWiqjgOyX0).


End file.
